Fullmetal Alchemist Live Action Movie Casting

[Vausch]

So apparently a live-action FMA movie is in the works and due out winter 2017, to be directed by Fumihiko Sori.

The cast listing so far puts Ryosuke Yamada as Edward Elric, Tsubasa Honda as Winry Rockbell, and Dean Fujioka as Roy Mustang.

I...feel conflicted about this. On one hand this is pretty cool to hear about, I do like most of the cast members, and Fumihiko Sori is an excellent director. On the other hand, this kinda feels like the opposite issue to Ghost in the Shell.

If any of you saw Nostaliga Critic's video on whitewashing, he brought up several examples of live action adaptations of anime such as a Cowboy Bebop movie with Keanu Reeves cast as Spike and people didn't get in a huff about it especially when compared to Scarlett Johansonn as Motoko Kusanagi. I felt this wasn't the best argument because, well, Spike is white. Yes he was created by a Japanese writer but it's undeniable that he is a Caucasian character (can't say European/American given he's from Mars but semantics).

Fullmetal Alchemist seems in that boat as well. The setting of the country of Amestris is essentially an alternate universe Germany and the characters all have European names to them if they're not characters from Xing. It seems like one of the few times getting a predominantly white cast for an anime adaptation would have been beneficial to the end product. I am hopeful the end result will be good as the cast and crew of the production are pretty strong, but at the same time I can't help but wonder the same thing I often do when a character is miscast in another production in the US. Just as I think it would have been rather idiotic to cast Robert Pattinson as Tetsuo Shima for an Akira adaptation (Yes that was a real casting consideration) I think it's bizzare to make an all Japanese cast for a story taking place in AU Germany.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

My honest opinion?

It's a Japanese helmed movie made in Japan for a mainly Japanese audience. Of course they cast Japanese actors. They want people that will draw in their target demographic, which, again, is mainly Japanese. Making sure the characters are all played by people with matching race/ethnicity/nationality/whatever was probably not high on their list of priorities.

 

[Dansen]

This is the opposite of the whole GiTS outrage but its nothing new, just look at the AoT movie. The movie is going to blow/look cheap so I don't really care about this. The guy playing Edward looks like a woman, he looks like a clown to me but its another country so different standards of beauty I guess. Gluttony should probably be a cgi character but judging by the casting choice they want to save money by casting a fat guy. Do these anime movies do well internationally or do they just target the domestic market? If their primary audience are Japanese, then I envy them since most American blockbusters today barely target Americans.

 

[Zhukov]

I guess if business restrictions/requirements justify one then they justify the other.

As with GitS, I wonder if they plan on changing the character names, or if they're going with a Japanese guy speaking Japanese in a Japanese accent while running about introducing himself as Edward.

 

[shrekfan246]

This is an outrage! Won't anybody think of the white guys!?!? Why do we never get any representation!?!?!?!?!!

Oh, wait, what's that? It's a Japanese film made in Japan, where something like 98% of the population is Japanese, the film industry is much smaller, and they have very similar issues with casual racism that the US does? Does this mean that people will actually understand why others were upset at the casting choice in Ghost in the Shell, or are these totes different situations?

 

[Satinavian]

Yea, feels the same way as GitS.

I already had similar feelings watching the real life adaption of Kiki's delivery service.

 

[Sonmi]

Pretty much the same thing as with Ghost in the Shell, the casting is oriented towards catering to their intended audience rather than staying true to the source material.

I understand why fans might be annoyed, but I really think it's a non-issue.

 

[anthony87]

So a movie being made in Japan is going to star Japanese people while a movie being made in America is going to star American people.

How exactly are these opposite "issues"?

 

[DefunctTheory]

It's a Japanese production, and while Japanese culture can be fairly racist, I'm pretty sure that has very little to do with it. They're about as close to a mono-race culture as you can get in the modern era, which means even if they did snag a few whities to play Europeans, they could never get enough to cover the main cast, let alone the extras that would have to populate the world there making.

And, if I'm being honest, I've seen a handful of Japanese made movies, and I have a sneaking suspicion that 'Yellow Washing' is going to be at the bottom of a fairly substantial pile of problems these movies going to have. I'm already struggling to figure out how their going to do Al, Gluttony or Sloth any justice, and...

Spoiler: Offensive Bit

I assume people are going to be disappointed by 'Flat Lust.'

 

[Casual Shinji]

It feels less similar to GitS and more similar to Attack on Titan. The American GitS movie is most likely going to be more ethnically authentic then either the Japanese Attack on Titan or this new FMA movie.

Japan is simply way more culturally isolated than the United States. Nevermind that Japan's movie industry has very little muscle.

 

[hermes]

Yes, please.

I look forward to all the Internet outrage about this move, clearly misguided at aiming to appeal to as much of their intended audience as possible over respecting the sanctity of the author's vision. It is not like racial tension and the protagonists being from a mixed race were plot points in this thing. Please tell me more about how this movie is both disrespectful and racist.

 

[hermes]

This is the opposite of the whole GiTS outrage but its nothing new, just look at the AoT movie. The movie is going to blow/look cheap so I don't really care about this. The guy playing Edward looks like a woman, he looks like a clown to me but its another country so different standards of beauty I guess. Gluttony should probably be a cgi character but judging by the casting choice they want to save money by casting a fat guy. Do these anime movies do well internationally or do they just target the domestic market? If their primary audience are Japanese, then I envy them since most American blockbusters today barely target Americans.

Most anime movies barely never leave Japan, so they get away with only targeting their domestic market. This thing, however, will be distributed internationally by WB, so I expect, at least, a limited release in the US.

 

[Vausch]

My honest opinion?

It's a Japanese helmed movie made in Japan for a mainly Japanese audience. Of course they cast Japanese actors. They want people that will draw in their target demographic, which, again, is mainly Japanese. Making sure the characters are all played by people with matching race/ethnicity/nationality/whatever was probably not high on their list of priorities.

not to mention that the pool of white actors is probably not that big in Japan.

 

[Saelune]

The only people who will know too much of this will be fans anyways who understand its a Japanese movie of a Japanese anime.

Ive seem some pre-offended at theoretically offended people on here that I honestly can understand, but this isn't one of those times.

Plus I mean, as long as that I think non-canon "alternate WW2 Germany" isn't addressed, then it doesn't matter. Ghost in the Shell takes place in a fictionalized version of our world where nationality matters. FMA doesn't. Really it depends more on how the Ishbalans are portrayed, as well as those Chinese styled characters.

 

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

Look at that. A japanese movie based on a japanese property starring japanese actors. No south american actors at all. This is absurd, outrageous. I am appalled.

Just in case: since everyone seems to be mad about everything nowadays, I'm not serious.

 

[Worgen]

Since this probably won't really see release outside of japan, aside from a dvd version or something its not much of an issue. If it was going to have a larger release then it could be an issue since the story takes place more in a Europe like local.

 

[Erttheking]

I guess if business restrictions/requirements justify one then they justify the other.

As with GitS, I wonder if they plan on changing the character names, or if they're going with a Japanese guy speaking Japanese in a Japanese accent while running about introducing himself as Edward.

Well we had two out of three of those in the original anime, I get the feeling we'll be just fine with all three.

OT: Unlike Ghost in the Shell, Japan has the very legitimate excuse of not having any white actors to cast, while America doesn't really have the excuse of having no Japanese actors.

 

[happyninja42]

So, does anyone else feel that most anime characters, who frequently are supposed to be Japanese people...don't actually really look Japanese? Not just this lineup, but overall. Most animes I've watched, the characters look westernized/anglo-saxonized to hell and back. Natural hair colors that simply don't occur in Japanese genomes (as far as I've ever seen). Body types and facial structures that look distinctly caucasian or european in nature. And yet, they're all Japanese, and then fans lose their shit when they pick actors who aren't Japanese...to play a character that frequently doesn't even look Japanese in the original work!

I just, don't get it. Does anyone else see that trend for most of the art style, and can perhaps actually explain why their all Japanese cast of characters, look like every type of human out there...except the Japanese?

I mean if the setting is actually based in some European equivalent culture, then fine, but even when they are in locations predominantly Japanese in culture, like you know...JAPAN, the characters drawn by Japanese artists, to represent Japanese people, don't come across as actually being Japanese in appearance.

 

[Sonmi]

So, does anyone else feel that most anime characters, who frequently are supposed to be Japanese people...don't actually really look Japanese? Not just this lineup, but overall. Most animes I've watched, the characters look westernized/anglo-saxonized to hell and back. Natural hair colors that simply don't occur in Japanese genomes (as far as I've ever seen). Body types and facial structures that look distinctly caucasian or european in nature. And yet, they're all Japanese, and then fans lose their shit when they pick actors who aren't Japanese...to play a character that frequently doesn't even look Japanese in the original work!

I just, don't get it. Does anyone else see that trend for most of the art style, and can perhaps actually explain why their all Japanese cast of characters, look like every type of human out there...except the Japanese?

I mean if the setting is actually based in some European equivalent culture, then fine, but even when they are in locations predominantly Japanese in culture, like you know...JAPAN, the characters drawn by Japanese artists, to represent Japanese people, don't come across as actually being Japanese in appearance.

The various hair and eye colours are meant to make characters more visually distinct from one another, there's not much more to it.

 

[hermes]

So, does anyone else feel that most anime characters, who frequently are supposed to be Japanese people...don't actually really look Japanese? Not just this lineup, but overall. Most animes I've watched, the characters look westernized/anglo-saxonized to hell and back. Natural hair colors that simply don't occur in Japanese genomes (as far as I've ever seen). Body types and facial structures that look distinctly caucasian or european in nature. And yet, they're all Japanese, and then fans lose their shit when they pick actors who aren't Japanese...to play a character that frequently doesn't even look Japanese in the original work!

I just, don't get it. Does anyone else see that trend for most of the art style, and can perhaps actually explain why their all Japanese cast of characters, look like every type of human out there...except the Japanese?

I mean if the setting is actually based in some European equivalent culture, then fine, but even when they are in locations predominantly Japanese in culture, like you know...JAPAN, the characters drawn by Japanese artists, to represent Japanese people, don't come across as actually being Japanese in appearance.

They are drawn with roughly the same features to cheapen production costs, the same way most early animation consisted on changing the mouth while leaving the rest intact. Also, eyes are exaggerated to help them emote, a technique earlier anime artists borrowed from Disney. With time, that style of drawing got popular, and 90% of all anime produced for TV got that style. That is also the reason for weird anime hair styles and colors. They get more varied than in real life to make character that, for the most part, look the same stand out from the rest and emote easier. It even permeated into manga, despite not having the same budget restrictions and not even using colors.

However, people that watch anime are trained to suspend their disbelief (the same way gamers are trained to believe a bullet to the face is survivable) into thinking everyone is Japanese (and why not? even the most outlandish ones speak Japanese and have names like Sakura and Hayato, and no one draws attention to their green eyes or red hair), unless canonically stated the contrary. For example, by giving someone the name Edward, and making his race relevant to the story.